To attract customers and increase revenue… Each company has a professional Marketing team. So what is Marketing? What areas does marketing include? What role does marketing play for businesses? The article below Tsunami Innovation will help you learn about marketing from the most basic knowledge to popular forms of marketing today. So what are you waiting for, read it now!

What is marketing?

Marketing is the process of understanding customers’ wishes and requirements. In other words, this is an advertising and marketing communication activity with the purpose of determining the ability to produce products at appropriate prices. Then sell to the market based on the previously set price strategy.

According to Wikipedia, Marketing is a very large field of activity, including:

Marketing along with communication strategy.
Design.
Brand development.
Valuation.
Customer psychology.
Market research.
Locate potential customers.
Measuring effectiveness.
So what is the core element of Marketing? It is an understanding of the wishes and concerns of customers to persuade them to buy the service. This is the basis for the company’s long-term development. To be successful, businesses need to constantly learn about customer needs. From there, increase value through approaching topics of customer interest.

According to Philip Kotler- “, the father of modern Marketing, the definition of Marketing is as follows: ” Marketing is the art of discovering, creating and providing value to satisfy target market needs. Marketing identifies unmet wants and needs. It measures, quantifies the size of the identified market and the potential for profitability. On the other hand, Marketing helps companies determine which segments are best able to serve. At the same time, it also designs and promotes appropriate services”.

Marketing – What role does marketing play for a company/business?

By now, you must have somewhat understood what Marketing is, right? So what is the role of Marketing , why do businesses/companies need to invest? The content below will help you answer in the most detailed way:

Effective ways for companies to attract customers

Attracting customers based on the target market is an extremely important goal for companies/businesses. Attracting customers is completely different from offering a product. It is providing information related to the business and new products/services to customers.

Marketing Consulting is the task of Marketing specialists to help attract and maintain interactions between customers and companies/businesses. Your unit should let customers know interesting things about products/services that they do not know. Provide interesting content to convince and satisfy customers, and at the same time be worthy of the time they spend on you.

Building relationships between companies/businesses and customers

Researching customer behavior and psychology to build relationships with the public is essential for businesses. Modern advertising and marketing communications help reputable businesses/companies satisfy the desires and needs of customers, thereby creating good relationships and their trust.

Once a relationship with a customer has been built, the production department will ensure that services are delivered on time as promised. This contributes to making customers more loyal to your brand and products.

Loyal customers are often ready to buy products from your unit. From there, they will become a group of close, long-term customers. In other words, people buy the benefits the product brings, not the product itself. Understanding and trust of customers will help the company/business create more sales as well as practical benefits.

Proper advertising and marketing communications help increase sales effectiveness

Overall marketing applies many ways to distribute, promote and transport services/products, such as promotions, discount strategies, etc. When advertised, the business’s products will have more opportunities to sell. At the same time, it also stimulates curiosity, making customers want to try new features of that service/product.

When customers are satisfied with your new product/service, they may become repeat buyers and brand ambassadors without even realizing it. They will introduce your product to many others. From there, your company’s sales will start to increase. However, you must ensure that you provide quality services/products to match your marketing efforts.

Helps businesses maintain relationships with existing customers

Most businesses think that they are the brand that their customers love. This is a mistake. To maintain relationships with customers, you need to find a way to keep your business in their minds.

Online marketing will help achieve this goal simply by helping businesses maintain relationships with existing customers. You should not focus too much on finding new customers and forget to maintain existing customers.

Offer multiple revenue options

In the early stages of establishment, companies/businesses often have very few options, because they do not have much funding. Marketing strategies will help your unit have more potential customers as well as opportunities to earn more income. Thanks to that, the company will also have more options.

Having more options gives you the courage to penetrate deeper into the new market. Then, the business will be able to ignore customers who demand too much from you or who are not suitable for the unit.

With such an important role , what areas has Advertising and Marketing Communications deployed to boost sales for the company/business? Scroll down and read on!

Marketing mix and 4P in marketing

When learning about marketing, you must have heard the concept of “Marketing Mix”.

So what is the marketing mix? The 4P marketing mix is ​​built on four main elements. These are Product, Price, Promotion, and Place. When implementing marketing strategies, marketers need to focus on exploiting these four elements.

In addition, the 4P Marketing model also has other variations such as 7P or 9P. However, in general, these variations are all developed from the main 4P. Let’s analyze these core elements with Tsunami Innovation:

Product

First, businesses need to answer the question “What is the product I am selling, is it a physical product or a service?”. Then marketers will need to rely on their professional expertise to determine:

• What is your company’s core product line? Should you develop new product lines? For example, if you are an automobile manufacturer, should you make crossovers, pickup trucks, family cars, etc.?
• What are the steps in the product packaging process?
• What is the product maintenance and warranty policy?
• Are there any return policies?
• …

In general, marketers need to grasp all aspects of the design, uses, features of the goods and other important information. Only then can they market the goods comprehensively and effectively.

Price

Pricing is not just about setting the price of a product or service; it also involves determining the price at the market level. When marketing prices, marketers need to find answers to the following questions:

• What is the market share per unit of a product? To answer this question, marketers need to research the market, competitors, market prices and the price that customers are willing to pay. From there, come up with the most suitable price for the product.
• When should you choose to discount your products and how should you implement it?
• Should product prices be adjusted at regular intervals?
• What payment options should consumers be offered? For example, if selling high-value products such as cars, manufacturers should offer installment payment options instead of requiring customers to pay in one lump sum.

Promotion

For a product to be sold, the business must first let people know about its existence. When promoting a product, the business must pay attention to the following issues:

• Which online/offline channels should I promote my products on?
• Which channel will help promote the product most effectively? (Online/offline channels, events, traditional stores…)
• What message should be conveyed so that customers can remember the product longer and encourage them to buy?

Place (Distribution location)

Products should be distributed at the right time and place to best reach customers. This raises the question: Where should the goods be distributed? Should online or offline distribution channels be used? Where are the locations where customers can receive the products?

Marketing and commonly confused concepts 

In the field of marketing, there are some concepts that are easily misunderstood but often go hand in hand. Let’s find out what they are.

Distinguishing Traditional Marketing and Modern Marketing

Traditional Marketing and Modern Marketing are two terms that are mentioned quite often. Depending on the market situation and each different stage, each of these marketing strategies has its own effectiveness. Tsunami Innovation will help you distinguish between these two marketing concepts:

Difference

– Traditional Marketing:

With this strategy, the business will create the product first and then determine the market segment. Therefore, traditional marketing focuses on producing and providing familiar products that are already present in the market.

The weakness of traditional marketing methods is that they cannot make predictions for the future, clearly identify target customer groups and marketing strategies to attract customers.

– Modern Marketing:

This marketing method emphasizes conducting market research before starting to manufacture products. Modern marketing shows its systematic nature through the following aspects:

• Analyze and research all stages and fields
• Make predictions about risks and situations that may arise in the future
• It can be seen that modern marketing has an advantage over traditional marketing in that it contributes to building connections between commercial enterprises.

Similarities

Traditional marketing plays a fundamental role, this is the basic marketing method from which people can develop and expand modern marketing types. Modern marketing is more comprehensive than traditional marketing. This marketing method both helps increase business efficiency and identifies the real needs of customers. From there, businesses can improve or create new products to bring more benefits to customers.

Distinguishing Marketing vs Branding

Marketing can have positive or negative effects on a brand. Therefore, businesses need to choose appropriate marketing methods and strategies to create a good impression of their brand in the eyes of customers. For example, creating close conversations, showing sympathy, and sharing with customers’ problems.

However, ads that appear at the wrong time can interrupt the user’s web and program experience and make them lose sympathy for the brand. It is not true that running ads continuously, hanging banners or logos everywhere will make customers pay attention to you. The important thing is that the marketing strategy must be appropriate for each time to bring the highest efficiency. However, a truly attractive ad can still attract customers even if it interrupts their experience of watching movies, listening to music…

Distinguishing Marketing vs Advertising

As discussed above, a well-written ad can still have a positive effect even if it distracts users. To do this, you can experiment with ad formats that tell a story, are humorous, or convey strong emotions.

In 1984, Apple achieved great success by incorporating a compelling story into its advertising. However, “big guys” like Apple or Starbucks rarely run ads. That’s because they understand: Almost no one likes advertising.

Automatically playing ads on websites will create an unpleasant feeling for viewers. From there, they will have a negative feeling towards the ad and the brand behind the ad.

Therefore, when implementing advertising campaigns, businesses need to devote a lot of effort to creating harmony with customers.

Distinguishing Marketing vs Sales

Sales and Marketing are two terms that often go hand in hand. However, they refer to different activities that take place within a business.

Sales

The Sales team’s main task is to approach and persuade users to buy. They must coordinate with the marketing team to establish strong, long-term relationships with customers. However, the Sales staff do not give any comments about the product or ask questions about who their target customers are.

Marketing

Meanwhile, the marketing team focuses on the task of finding and attracting potential customers, providing them with valuable information about products and brands.

In addition, marketers also need to create surveys and synthesize customer feedback on products. From there, marketers will choose the most suitable products to maintain production and expand further in the future. In other words, the marketer team will help raise customer awareness of the brand and product.

What are the areas of Marketing? 15 most popular forms of Marketing in 2024

To better understand what Marketing is , let’s learn about what areas (forms) of Marketing this activity includes. Marketing – Advertising and marketing communications are very diverse, helping to serve the increasingly high needs of customers. It can be divided into 15 main types of Marketing:

• Outbound Marketing
• Traditional Marketing
• Inbound Marketing
• Search Engine Marketing (SEM)
• Digital Marketing
• Social Media Marketing
• Content Marketing
• Email Marketing
• Video Marketing
• Influencer Marketing
• Affiliate Marketing
• Word of Mouth Marketing
• Event Marketing.

Outbound Marketing

What is Outbound Marketing? This is a way of marketing through television, newspapers, sending emails and calling phones. This form of Marketing is called “Outbound”. That is, a small part within the larger framework of Marketing. Because the brand is conveying the business’s messages to all consumers in a mass way, whether they need, want, accept or not.

Inbound Marketing

In the Vietnamese market, Inbound Marketing is one of the less mentioned Marketing terms? So what is Inbound Marketing? Basically, this form mainly attracts target customers rather than bothering them.

Inbound planning is largely focused on Digital Marketing. Because when consumers search on Google, it will automatically happen during their commercial shopping process.

The focus of this form of Marketing is to create valuable experiences that positively impact businesses and people, in order to bring in potential customers.

Buyers will come to your website because the content is beneficial to them. When customers come, you will attract them with your products/services by using connecting tools (chat windows or emails). From there, provide customers with great experiences, while promising other values.

Traditional Marketing

Traditional Marketing is also known as Traditional Marketing. This is the promotion of brands on entertainment and media channels that appeared before the Internet.

Because information is not readily available and easily accessible, this method relies largely on Outbound tactics. Interaction with consumers mainly takes place directly in the store.

For example: TV advertising, printing on newspapers, billboards, flyers or magazines….

Digital Marketing

In contrast to traditional marketing, digital marketing is a solution that brings many benefits to businesses. This method takes advantage of modern, advanced technologies to reach buyers of quality services/products in many different ways. This type of marketing mainly uses the Internet or electronic devices.

Businesses/companies will utilize digital channels such as Social Media, search engines, Websites and emails to connect with current and future customers. On the other hand, it enhances the reputation of the business in the eyes of customers.

Search Engine Marketing (SEM)

Search Engine Marketing abbreviated as SEM is also known as search engine marketing. This form includes marketing activities that help ensure that your new quality service or product will be displayed on the results pages of SERPs (search engines).

When a customer enters a certain keyword, Search Engine Marketing will allow the company/business to appear at the top as a search result.

There are currently 2 types of SEM:

• Search Engine Optimization (SEO) gives you search results without having to pay for them.
•  Pay-per-click (PPC) for sponsored SERPs.

To do SEO, you need to be familiar with Google (search engine) ranking factors and content production.

As for PPC, you need to work in the form of online business like the search engine the unit is aiming for to be ready to buy the position. In which, Google Ads  or Display Advertising is a popular choice of users today.

Content Marketing

Content Marketing is an important tool in Digital Marketing and Inbound Marketing. The business activities of this form include: Creating, Publishing, promoting, optimizing content to potential customers of the company/business. At the same time, allowing customers to find the information they need on Blog Marketing or Web.

Social Media Marketing is the creation of promotional content about a business’s products and brands on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and Linkedin.

To help customers solve their purchasing problems, your business needs to identify what they care about when shopping. From there, you should build and manage content accordingly.

Social Media Marketing

To make your post content connect with your potential customers, create interesting, useful content that meets the standards of that social network. Thanks to social media, information about products/services will be delivered to customers in the fastest time.

Video Marketing

This is a type of content marketing. Or you can understand Video Marketing as a way to convey ideas through videos and share them on social networks, Youtube and Website. From there, increase customer awareness of the brand, at the same time create conversions and lead to closing sales.

Some video applications even allow you to nurture, evaluate, and analyze customer potential through their business activities.

Email Marketing

This is a method of connecting customers through advertising information or useful content to those who have registered to receive newsletters from the company/business.

To strengthen relationships with consumers, businesses need to personalize marketing messages and nurture them with valuable, useful information. To use this form, your unit needs to create a list of consumers who can send emails.

Specifically, through the information form on the Web, you use Email Marketing service or automatic software to send emails. Then you just need to track and monitor the effectiveness of the email.

Influencer Marketing

What is Influencer Marketing? This is an influencer marketing process that helps businesses exploit interactive communities on social networking sites.

Influencers are people who have great influence in that community, they can help your company promote products/services to the audience you want to reach.

To get started with this form of Marketing, you need to identify the Influencer you need, then target the influencer and list suitable criteria such as:

• Scale of influence.
• Activity level.
• And the Influencer’s interest in the business’s products/services.

Next, you should search for Influencers on social networking sites (using Agencies or Influencer Marketing platforms). Finally, you should maintain relationships with these Influencers so that they have space to promote your company’s services/products.

Affiliate Marketing

What is Affiliate Marketing? Affiliate Marketing is a service marketing model through online product channels and distributors. At this time, Affiliate Marketers will be paid by suppliers after customers buy the products they introduce.

If you own marketing tools with high social media engagement or high traffic, Affiliate Marketing will help your business make the most of them.

Choose a brand that matches the product you are selling or a service that has an advantage but is not competitive to promote to your customers.

Word of Mouth Marketing

What is Word of Mouth Marketing? This is arguably the most reliable form of Marketing today, when customers promote the services and products of other businesses/companies.

To create more Word of Mouth Marketing activities, you need to focus on developing the best service and providing top products to customers.

In addition, before satisfying your own needs, you need to satisfy the desires and meet the requirements of consumers. Then the buyer will become more loyal, and trust enough to refer other potential customers (their friends or relatives) to your service.

Event Marketing

This is the process of planning Marketing, then organizing and implementing events or programs to promote the products/services and brand of the business.

Events can take place in two forms: online or in person. Your company can be the organizer of the event, or participate as a sponsor or traditional marketer of the exhibition.

Many organizations have also used their experience and qualifications to participate in events as speakers. They have shared useful information for the event and the target audience. In return, the brand of that business will be known to the participants.

On the other hand, there are also Events that apply promotions right at the spot to attract attendees, turning them into buyers. Their purchases prove that your company’s Marketing campaign is on the right track.

SEO (Search Engine Optimization)

The term “SEO” is certainly no longer strange to today’s marketers. SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is translated into Vietnamese as “search engine optimization”. From here we have the next concept of website SEO – a set of methods to improve the display ranking of a website on the search results page (SERP).

Today’s customers often research product information on the internet through search engines like Google.

Therefore, SEO is considered a solution to attract customers naturally. Giving consumers the initiative to search for information instead of passively approaching products/services like when watching advertisements.

Print Marketing

Although online newspapers are increasingly dominant, many target customers that businesses are aiming for still maintain the habit of buying newspapers and magazines. Therefore, the form of marketing “Print Marketing” is also a suggestion that cannot be ignored.

Businesses can increase their brand exposure by sponsoring newspapers to publish articles related to their products/services. This will attract the attention of customers who regularly read newspapers and magazines.

Up to this point, you have understood what Marketing is, right? In the era of increasingly strong technology development and the increasing trend of using social networks, Marketing is an indispensable field for companies/enterprises that want to promote development and reduce costs. This is the reason why for specific products/services, companies need to invest more in Marketing activities.

If you have no experience in Marketing, don’t worry, let Tsunami Innovation Online Marketing Service help your business. We provide implementation service solutions:

• Digital Marketing Services
• Online Advertising Services
• Marketing Strategy Consulting

All Marketing plans here come from customer Insight, from which effective Marketing strategies are created and applied at every touch point.

Not only explaining what Marketing is, Tsunami Innovation also provides many other articles. Follow the page and update more useful and valuable information. And, if your business is in need of a detailed Marketing strategy consultant, a companion to effectively implement comprehensive Digital Marketing, connect with Tsunami Innovation today!